Community Currencies

Discussion in 'Paper Money' started by kaparthy, Oct 5, 2010.

  1. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    Discussing a Detroit Depression Scrip note, krispy opined:
    That would be one reason to pursue them now. If you look at the history of auctions, you see very many with astounding examples of the coins we all collect now. Perhaps my favorite in that was the Heritage sale of the Finest Mercury Dimes. Mercury has been my username since 1984; currently mercury49attorchlakedotcom. So I like Mercs. But we know about them ... all about them... On the other hand, the historically important sales -- Pittman; Eliasberg; even or especially John Jay Ford -- were of collections created when no one else cared for the material. Indian Peace Medals, Large Cents, Conder Tokens, ... today's important pursuits were yesterday's unknowns.

    But what is a community currency?

    By law, anyone can print a note -- that is what a draft or check is. In my check collection, I have a preprinted Promissory Note. (No one except the government can make a coin as money. Read the law USC Title 18 Chapter 25) But as krispy pointed out in that thread, a nice design does not make a community currency.

    Philatelists call them "cinderellas" -- fantasies. We see them in numismatics and the so-called "micronational" hobby is loaded with them. Long ago, Erwin S. Strauss recommended this in How to Start Your Own Country: no law against it and it is an exercise in psychological (though not political) independence. So, if you goto Yahoo Groups you can find tons of paper that no one wants.

    A real community currency circulates. It has a history. It represents an organizational structure for a market place. Back in 2004 and 2005, I posted on this in Coin Talk first here, and then here. I just went to the Bay Bucks website here and while some information is aged, the page is copyrighted 2010.

    If you want more information, a suggested earlier, the Schumacher Society is one place to start. They have been at this longest. Note also, that the nominal starting point for modern US community currency, Ithaca Time Dollars, is also active, but that the WWW presence has split with the original creator and designer going commercial while the community continues.

    To create an important (and eventually saleable) collection, you would need to validate the currencies by gathering news reports, following the local sources, and tracking the launch (and perhaps demise) of the notes.

    It takes a community to create a community currency. With Bay Bucks, they met for years before they launched. (My Bay Bucks story here in the MSNS archives.) On the other hand, Detroit Cheers was created by one bar owner and then it spread to other establishments nearby and now it stands on its own to whatever extent. Mostly, they are for export: you take out a Cheers by leaving an FRN behind. But, they are nominally acceptable at par in bars and restaurants around Greektown in Detroit.

    Finally, realize that there is no scriptural liturgy for this. We have no books yet. Only a few articles have been published. I placed some exhibits at MSNS, but I have not seen others or heard of others at CSNS or the ANA, though I have not attended in a few years, either.
     
    George McClellan likes this.
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  3. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    Resources for Community Currency
    (from the January 2009 Numismatist "Internet Connections."

    Paul Glover's Ithacas Hours commercial website
    http://www.ithacahours.com/
    The official website of Ithaca Hours,
    www.ithacahours.org.

    The E. F. Schumacher Society was founded in 1980 to promotes social and environmental sustainability by applying “small is beautiful” solutions. You will find a link to Local Currencies in their home page.

    The International Journal of Community Currency Research -
    http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/ijccr/ - is a peer-reviewed online academic periodical. The online archives of this 10-year old journal include reports and analyses on local exchange trading systems, time dollars, and community currencies.

    Humboldt Dollars of Eureka, California
    Madison Hours from Madison, Wisconsin. (Pancake Breakfast next Sunday, the 10th!)
     
  4. krispy

    krispy krispy

    Great thread, glad you opened up the topic here.

    Yes, I have posted a couple of times in the past about collector-opportunity in local currencies.

    Here are some Wiki reference links:

    Wikipedia: Local Currency


    Wikipedia: Complementary currency


    There are some really interesting note designs in use in Germany, that incorporate very colorful reproductions of illustrations and abstract fine art. Some of these can be found in the World / Paper Money categories on eBay for a few bucks per note from time to time.

    Regional Currency (Germany) from bizhacks.com [or the direct YouTube link]

    Some other examples are: BerkShares (MA), Ithaca Hours (NY), The Baroon Dollar (Australia) [not sure what happened to an older Baroon Dollar site, so I've linked to this blog.]

    Here's a list of other cities with Other Hours programs similar to Ithaca, New York's which have started up following the success of Ithaca Hours. The Ithaca Hours site has an article about the Chinese Government studying the Ithaca Hours program back in 2001.

    One of the Board of Directors of Ithaca Hours, Stephen Burke conducted an extensive video interview conducted by Italian journalists (in English). The video is 80 minutes long, but he gives a lot of insight about the program.

    Local scrip has been slowly cropping up across the world, especially gaining strength in the last 10 years or so for pretty much obvious reasons. What intrigues me is not the politics behind it all, but the possibility that designers of these notes may be local artists or crafts persons, everyday creative type people taking part in their financial-system, not just trained engravers working for departments of government with security in mind.

     
    George McClellan likes this.
  5. coleguy

    coleguy Coin Collector

    Thats interesting. I've actually contemplated doing something like a community currency for my town as a way to advertise the area. It's been done in surrounding towns with some success.
    Guy
     
  6. Dr Kegg

    Dr Kegg Star Note Fanatic

    The German notes are called Notgelds and were also found in Austria and Russia back in the early 20th century. They are some of the nicest notes ever produced pertaining to their color and use of artistry. Mostly used during the Weimar Republic era of German history, local banks and communities produced them as a means to combat inflationary measures that plagued Germany after WWI. I highly recommend these to anyone, no matter what type or country you collect notes from.
     
  7. krispy

    krispy krispy

  8. Dr Kegg

    Dr Kegg Star Note Fanatic

    Thanks for the links krispy. You're always willing to take the time to find this information for everyone.
     
  9. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

  10. Dr Kegg

    Dr Kegg Star Note Fanatic

    Quite right chrisild. I think because I enjoy Notgelds that I tend to discuss them a little more than the community currencies; however, they are not the same thing in many situations. Thanks for pointing that out for everyone.
     
  11. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    key bounce. sorry.
     
  12. Daggarjon

    Daggarjon Supporter**

    This is a great thread folks!!! alot of interesting information! I agree that notgeld does contain some awsome designs. the use or art, colors ect make them a very fun filled type of note to collect! Some are easily found, some are quite rare. the challenge is in trying to find them all :D
     
  13. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    George McClellan likes this.
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